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A new era in education has begun at Sac State.

The University now offers an independent doctorate, allowing students to earn a doctoral degree in educational leadership. It is part of a statewide effort to increase the number of education leaders in both the K-12 and community college systems. Though it was just launched this fall, the program was years in the making. And it only came about through legislation, pushed by State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), that permitted Sac State, as well as other California State University campuses, to offer a degree beyond the master’s.

Before then, the state’s master plan for higher education only let CSUs offer students a doctorate in conjunction with a University of California campus. For example, Sac State’s doctorate in public history is offered with UC Santa Barbara. Students take courses in Sacramento but also must take some in Santa Barbara. A previous joint education doctorate was in conjunction with UC Davis and Sonoma State.

“The CSU had been prohibited since 1961 by the master plan from offering the doctorate in education,” said Charles Reed, chancellor of the CSU system at a Capitol news conference announcing the new programs. “Sen. Scott’s vision was to create a doctoral program that would lead to advances in K-12 and community colleges and to develop leaders for both public schools and the community colleges in California.”

Scott, a 30-year veteran of higher education, said, “It became apparent that leadership is key to successful education. California was lagging in opportunities for obtaining an education doctorate.”

“This will turn out leaders who will make a difference in K-12 and in community colleges throughout the state,” Scott said. “We will have better education leadership in California as a result. K-12 will have better trained administrators. The community college will have better trained administrators.”

The program is specifically designed for working professionals and lets them take classes where they live and work. Previously, those seeking an advanced degree had to go out of state or take courses through a private college.

What makes the Sac State program novel is that it is expressly tied to policy, says Ed Lee, an educational leadership professor and director of Sac State’s doctorate program. “We’re located in the capital city, which allows us to take advantage of not only policymakers at the Capitol but also various stakeholders in education in the region.”

Indeed the program is a partnership between the departments of Educational Leadership and Public Policy and Administration, with public policy faculty actively involved with teaching the program. There will also be opportunities to invite people from the policy arena to give guest lectures or be brought on as instructors.

“There is a larger context beyond the University,” says Public Policy Professor Miguel Ceja. “When you think of educational leadership and change you think of leaders out in community, folks who on a daily basis interact and engage with education policy or folks involved with policy. With this program there is an explicit effort to make those linkages apparent.

“Our proximity to the Capitol makes it ideal to include policy as part of these discussions.”

All the students who go through the program will deal with policy, Lee says, giving feedback to policymakers when policies are, and aren’t, working. “Rather than be reactive, we want them to be proactive.”

Sac State, one of seven CSUs campuses with the doctoral program, developed its curriculum through discussions with counterparts in public schools, community colleges and local and state education leaders, including Los Rios Community College District Chancellor Brice Harris, Sacramento County Superintendent Dave Gordon, Assistant Superintendent Joyce Wrightmen, and Sierra College President Leo Chavez.

“We are proud to be among the first CSUs to offer the doctorate in education,” said President Alexander Gonzalez. “Our faculty met with K-12 and community colleges and worked together to come up with a very focused and innovative program that will be shaping public education in the region for years to come.”

Lee and Ceja say through their discussions with education stakeholders three themes emerged as skills the program should build: transformative leadership, data-driven decision-making and critical policy analysis. They define a transformative leader as one who is sensitive to, and has a vision for, overcoming issues such as achievement gaps and is inclusive of the diverse population in California schools. Transformative leaders need to be able to make decisions, based on evidence, that have policy implications for student success.

Because the program is for working professionals, College of Education Dean Vanessa Sheared says she and her colleagues were careful to design a program that would accommodate the professional, personal and academic endeavors of students. “We recognize that people who will be coming into the program work 40-hour or longer weeks,” Sheared says. “We worked to enable all candidates to participate in the program while managing current personal and social responsibilities.”

Courses are held on Friday evenings and Saturdays in six-week sessions. The first two years, students will take coursework and the third year will be devoted to helping them develop and complete a dissertation that focuses on the needs of their institutions and needs of the region, Sheared says.

While some CSU campuses have chosen to limit enrollment in their doctoral programs to those who are already administrators, Sac State consciously sought a cohort of students that were diverse in not just ethnicity, but life experience and professional experience. The current cohort includes teachers, administrators, legislative employees and a retired military officer.

“We tried to keep an open mind about who an educational leader is,” Lee says. The program’s directors also are taking advantage of its mixed focus in developing both K-12 and community college leaders.

“We’re trying to do away with the silo mentality, that sectors work independently,” Ceja says. “As both sides are able to speak, we hope that ultimately they can come together. What occurs in high schools has implications for students when they enter community college. The more they can talk to each other the better.”

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